Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

There’s something magical about a baked oatmeal. It’s like the perfect combination of a cake and an oatmeal. I’ve experimenting with lots of different flavors lately and they always turn out super delicious. I’ve been making lots of blackberry oatmeal because I still had lots of blackberries in the freezer from summer. And to my surprise, I also have quite a lot of frozen wild blueberries.

Some are happy when they find gold, while some are over the moon when they dig out blueberries from the freezer — vegan problems. Anyways, the blackberry oatmeal is going to be in my breakfast e-book that should hopefully be coming out in June. Today I decided to share the blueberry version because, let’s be real, everyone needs a chocolate blueberry oatmeal in their life.

There’s more fruit than the actual oats so it’s fluffy, rich, creamy, chocolatey with a subtle hint of coconut. I love to top it with extra fruit and even more chocolate. So good!

Whenever I make oatmeal, pancakes, eggs, or anything else cooked for breakfast, I always have something raw first. A piece of fruit, coconut water & its meat, vegetables, etc. Because as much as I love warm breakfasts, I feel the best when the first thing I eat is raw. I usually make smoothies in the morning which covers my morning needs but when I don’t, I first eat a piece of fruit and top my cooked breakfast with even more raw fruits/veggies afterwards. It feels better to eat something light rather than burden your body with cooked foods first thing in the morning. There’s something logical in the Raw Till 4 diet and even though I don’t follow it, it seems like the way to go—you ease your way into cooked food. Starting with a smoothie, followed by a salad and some baked veggies in the evening when your body’s ready.

However, this is just advice. It’s not forbidden or super unhealthy to eat cooked food for breakfast, I mean, you could also be eating hash browns with bacon. Be a rebel and stuff your face with this chocolate oatmeal first thing in the morning, nobody’s gonna judge you. Because don’t get me wrong—I do too sometimes, but shh.

I love adding maca into my oatmeal. It’s great for your energy, hormonal balance, it’s got vitamins and minerals your body needs and I find it tastes better cooked than raw. You can read more about maca and check out my maca baked oatmeal HERE.

This recipe is super easy to make. You just throw the dry ingredients into a bowl, mash a banana, add it to the bowl along with the wet ingredients, mix, bake, and eat.

I decided to make a promise to myself that if I crave something sweet, I have to make an effort and make something. I tend to binge on dates and raw chocolate when I come back home from work in the evening which isn’t the best thing to do. Yes, raw chocolate is good for you, and yes, dates are raw, contain minerals, and aren’t necessarily unhealthy, but in great quantities (and at night when you don’t really need the extra energy) they’re something you might want to avoid, if you aren’t trying to gain weight. So, sometimes I eat oatmeal for dinner if I’m hungry and crave it, because it’s better than eating a handful of dates dipped in chocolate and nut butter. It’s more filling and actually feels like a meal, as opposed to inhaling dates, which is just a snack.

Bottom line: if you feel like eating something sweet, don’t go for the easiest option, instead make an effort to actually cook/blend something. It’s going to taste better and it will be even more satisfying.

Placing all the ingredients into small bowls or measuring cups first and then throwing it all together makes cooking even more enjoyable!

All the dry ingredients totally look like cinnamon coconut sugar granola. Oh, how I wish I had the maple sea salt granola from Eataly right now. If you ever find yourself in New York, do yourself a favor and visit Eataly and buy it. Eataly is an Italian food store/bistro/restaurant, it’s huge and they sell everything from chocolate to organic veggies and meat. Oh and gelato AND there’s a Nutella bar where they make Nutella crepes or cupcakes (or was it pancakes?) — I forgot what exactly they make there but it looked incredible. I didn’t actually try any of it, but if Nutella is your thing, that’s the place to be.

I was so tempted to eat it just like that, straight from the bowl, when I mixed in the berries, banana and chocolate chips. But the result was worth the wait!

This blueberry baked oatmeal is super easy to make and really delicious! Almost like a chocolate cake and blueberry muffin in one! Who'd say no to that?

Author: The Healthful Ideas

Recipe type: Breakfast

Serves: 1

Ingredients

½ cup rolled oats

¼ cup shredded coconut

¼ cup sunflower seeds

1 tbsp cacao powder

1 tbsp coconut flour (optional, makes it more cake-like)

1 tsp maca powder

1 tsp maple sugar (optional, can substitute with maple syrup)

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp sea salt or himalayan pink salt

¼ tsp baking soda

1-2 tbsp chocolate chips

1 very ripe banana, mashed

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

½ cup coconut milk or water (can substitute for any other plant milk)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 175C/350F.

Peel and mash your banana on a plate with a fork. The banana should be easy to mash if it's ripe.

If you're using frozen blueberries, take them out of the freezer so they have time to thaw a little while you prepare the rest.

Place all dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl and mix well so that everything is evenly spread.

Add the mashed banana, coconut or other milk into the dry ingredients and mix together until it forms a thick batter. If the batter is too thick and it's hard to combine the wet ingredients with the dry, you can add a couple tbsp of liquid.

Lastly, fold in the blueberries and the chocolate chips.

Scoop the batter into a baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until it rises a bit and is golden with slight crust on top.

Take out of the oven and top with more berries or other fruit of choice.